Juan de Velasco

Juan de Velasco y Pérez Petroche (1727–1792) was an 18th-century

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest, historian, and professor of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from the

Royal Audience of Quito The of Quito (sometimes referred to as or ) was an administrative unit in the Spanish Empire which had political, military, and religious jurisdiction over territories that today include Ecuador, parts of northern Peru, parts of southern Colo ...

. He was born in

Riobamba Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at an eleva ...

to Juan de Velasco y López de Moncayo and to María Pérez Petroche. Among the universities where he taught was the Universidad de San Marcos in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

in the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed from ...

. He is best known for his history book '' Historia del Reino de Quito'', although he also wrote books in fields other than history, such as physics textbooks and poetry anthologies. The book ''Historia del Reino de Quito'' is important in the history of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and of the city of

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

because it alleges the existence of a pre-Inca kingdom in what is now Ecuador and which is known as ''Reino de Quito'' (''Kingdom of Quito''). The book is mentioned, discussed and criticized by several historians such as

Marcos Jiménez de la Espada Marcos Jiménez de la Espada (1831–1898) was a Spanish zoologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, explorer and writer, born in Cartagena, Spain, although he spent most of his life in Madrid, where he died. He is known for participating in the Paci ...

, Federico González Suárez,

Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño (11 December 1890 – 17 August 1950) was an Ecuadorian historian, archeologist, and politician. He was the mayor of the city of Quito (the capital of Ecuador) from 1946 to 1948. He was a member of the Ecuadorian parlia ...

Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco (October 12, 1908 – May 1, 1993) — born Alfredo Pareja y Díez Canseco — was a prominent Ecuadorian novelist, essayist, journalist, historian and diplomat. An innovator of the 20th-century Latin American nove ...

, Misael Acosta Solís, Enrique Ayala Mora and Galo Ramón Valarezo. A picture of Juan de Velasco was in a 1947 60-cent postal stamp of the Ecuadorian postal servic

1727 births 1792 deaths People from Riobamba Ecuadorian people of Spanish descent 18th-century Roman Catholic priests Colonial Peru Ecuadorian male writers History of Ecuador Ecuadorian Jesuits National University of San Marcos faculty Quito Jesuits expelled from the Americas 18th-century Peruvian people {{Ecuador-reli-bio-stub